2014 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball Cards

2014 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball blends future and retro. The checklist is made up of the game's up-and-coming players while the design takes from 1965 Topps Baseball (or 2014 Topps Heritage for the cynics). Similar to previous years, boxes promise a pair of autographs and either a game-used or manufactured relic.

The 2014 Topps Heritage Minor League base set has 200 cards. All are prospects. Adding a bit of a challenge are 25 short prints that take a complete set up to 225 cards. Parallels include Lime Green, numbered Black, Blue (1/1) and Printing Plates. There are also 25 variations.

Real One Autographs offer plenty of ink. Unlike the on-card signatures used in the MLB version of Heritage, these appear as though they'll use stickers. Numbered parallels include Black, Red, Orange, PrintingPlates and Blue (1/1). Real One Dual Autographs are also randomly inserted.

2014 Topps Heritage Minor League Product Review

The Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a somewhat in-depth minor league set for the year, Heritage trumps Pro Debut. And while there are some solid hits to be found, they’re extremely bland and don’t stand out like you’d hope.

Staff Rating:

3.3 / 5.0

Card Design: 3.0/5.0

The 2014 Topps Heritage Minor League base set looks exactly as you’d expect mashing up current prospects and the 1965 Topps design. There’s a nostalgia vibe that extends to lots of portraits as opposed to the more standard action shots. While I’m personally not a huge fan of the base fronts, the backs are fantastic. The bright blue, offbeat fonts and comic accents are fun and feel much more old-school to me.

Outside of the base set though, there isn’t much that’s overly exciting. Base autographs use the same design as the main set only with a sticker on the front. The dark appearance and the dark font make for extremely tough-to-discern signature.

Other basic inserts feel equally uninspired. Part of that comes from the limitations of the Heritage brand, which means vintage card stock and looks. Still, outside of the base set, a little more creativity could be brought to the table.

Checklist: 4.0/5.0

This year Pro Debut was hindered by some big names missing from the checklist. Heritage Minor League takes some big steps forward, including the likes of Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler who were not included in Topps’ first minor league set of the season.

The set structure is solid. 200 base cards and 25 short prints feels about right.

And while the autographs and hits might not look the best, many of the year’s top prospects are in there.

Value: 3.5/5.0

Value has to be considered with a grain of salt. Big cards are tough to find in this product. And even when you do, they might not generate a lot of secondary market excitement. Part of that is the niche appeal of minor league cards. Part of that is the cards themselves. I managed to land a Clubhouse Collection Patch Autograph, one of the tougher hits in the product. That said, it’s a sticker autograph on a plainly designed card. The patch is extremely small and is simply a gold stripe. Other than the rarity, I fully understand why there wouldn’t be much interest in such a card.

This mentality continues with the basic autographs as well. Without much put into them, it’s unlikely collectors are going to respond.

All that being said, this is one of the cheapest boxes of the year. So there’s really not a lot of risk involved either. If you’re a fan of minor league cards and want to plug away at the set, there’s little to worry about in this department.

The Fun Factor: 2.8/5.0

It was tough for me to get excited about 2014 Topps Heritage Minor League. While I think the base set is solid, it feels like it’s running through the motions in virtually every other part. I wonder if a factory set approach similar to Heritage High Numbers might be more appropriate delivering a full base set and, perhaps, an autograph to compliment it.

Ryan Cracknell | E-Mail Author
Ryan's collecting origins began with winter bike rides to the corner store, tossing a couple of quarters onto the counter and peddling home with a couple packs of O-Pee-Chee hockey in his pocket. Today, he continues to build sets, go after inserts with cool technologies, chase Montreal Expos and finish off his John Jaha master collection. Ryan can be found on Twitter @tradercracks and Google+.

User Reviews

A nice selection of future starts and unknows. Autos are not on-card. A few variations, but not the plethora that I expect from the Topps Heritage line that makes this such a fun product. Also, the Space Cadets at Topps haven’t even put the Pro Debut promo page up on their web site yet so I have my scratch off codes and no place to put them.. Hello!!! Topps!!??!?

Always one of my favorite products, this year’s release is solid as usual. 2012 is still the standard bearer, imho, but the design and photos work well for the 2014 set. The autos are mmmhhh, but I don’t buy it for the autos.

One thing I have never seen before (which doesn’t mean much as I am not a big spender–more of a three or four hobby box of any one product): what are the Mystery Base Card of a Top MLB Draft Pick redemptions? OK, beyond the obvious…just not familiar with these. Are they good hits? I have pulled three “mystery” redemptions this year, but have a feeling this might not be a particularly valuable one. Any insights?

Love taking a look into the minors and prospects and a great way to do it. Question however, pulled a 1/5 Clint Frazier Gold Auto and wasn’t part of the description for the product and hasn’t been listed anywhere else. What gives?

Just like my Mother In-Law’s cooking, I wanted to say “Outstanding!” But, alas, just like my MIL’s best epicurean efforts, “Heritage Minor League Baseball” comes close… but falls jusssst short of being a “great” product.

The Good: With the product focusing upon Minor League clubs, the memorabilia can be quirky and very fun. Box price is always a significant component to any product review, and it’s difficult to argue with a $75 price-tag as purchased through my LHS ($65 at the Garfield, NJ, show). Delivering 2 autos and the by now ubiquitous jersey card, the bang-for-buck quotient is really quite significant by today’s standards.
With regard to the auto/mem’ component, the checklist may not meet the high-water mark set by the ’12 product… but with ‘graphs from top tier talents such as Albert Almora, Austin Meadows and Clint Frazier, coupled with fast-risers such as Michael Taylor, Dalton Pompey, and Alex Reyes? The product delivers.
Lastly, for those who enjoy seeking autos in-person or via mail (myself included!), this set is ideal due to the absence of a slick chromium finish!

The Bad: The product is what it is, and those seeking to speculate on prospect autos are much better served by purchasing Bowman Prospects and/or Bowman Chrome. Bowman is the standard by which all other prospect-heavy products are judged… and the $ ceiling on Bowman auto rooks’ is ridiculous; Kris Bryant’s $700 ’13 Bowman Chrome, Mike Trout’s $1,000 ’09 Chrome and the king of kings, Albert Pujols’ $3,000 ’01 Chrome are just a sampling of the values Bowman auto rooks can reach

The short-prints in the TH Minor League product are fun to chase and identify, but their secondary market values pale in comparison to those hailing from Topps Baseball.

In my opinion, however, the collectors and manufacturers alike have become SO concerned about secondary market re-sale values and the “perceived value” of the unopened box, that we forget what drew us to Baseball cards in the first place; That is, the joy of opening a pack, sifting through its contents and reading the card backs.
Topps Heritage Minor League is a brilliant product to break while watching a ball game or, even better, with a youngster whom your passing your love of collecting on to. At $75? You get 2 autographs, a memorabilia card, a couple of Short Prints and, much like my mother in-law’s pot roast? It’s really quite good!